Thursday, March 15, 2007.

The inevitable has happened with the Boise State-Southern Mississippi game this fall. The intersectional matchup has been moved back five days to accommodate an ESPN Thursday telecast from Bronco Stadium. The new date is September 27, two days before the BSU-Bowling Green game was to be played, so that one will again be put off to some other year, like 2011. Only three of the Broncos’ seven home games will now fall on Saturday (Wyoming, San Jose State and Idaho). And at least five BSU games will land on ESPN.

That would give the Broncos a total of 29 ESPN appearances over the past nine seasons, starting with the 1999 Humanitarian Bowl. To date, BSU is 20-4 on the Worldwide Leader. Of course, this year’s ESPN slate could increase. The network could get involved with the Washington game September 8—the natural home for that game would be Fox Sports Net, but even ABC could get involved in that one. If the Broncos get on another roll as the season progresses, ESPN could negotiate additional appearances. And BSU could play another bowl game on ESPN.

The only other time the Boise State women went to the NCAA Tournament was 1994, when June Daugherty was coach. Daugherty set the bar high at BSU before departing for Washington in 1996—it was a level that hadn’t been revisited until this year’s WAC championship and date with George Washington Saturday in Los Angeles. And an attendance level that still hasn’t been touched. Daugherty has the Lady Huskies in the NCAA Tournament, too—their third trip to the Dance in the last five years. But her job is reportedly on the line in Seattle, as UW is seen as good, not great. And the Huskies want to be great. They’re 18-12 this season and face Iowa State Saturday in Minneapolis.

The BSU men’s team is officially on hiatus and looks to next season. It’ll be a critical year for the Broncos (but what isn’t?). The part Reggie Larry plays could be huge now that he has a full season in the system. When BSU signed Larry last April, College of Southern Idaho coach Barret Peery described him as a guy with a unique instinct for rebounding. “He has a nose for it,” said Peery. “He has the ability to go get balls outside his area.” It made the 6-6, 225-pound Larry sound like former Louisiana Tech star Paul Millsap—minus two inches and 20 pounds. He was as close to Millsap as the Broncos could have hoped for this season, averaging 14 points and eight rebounds a game.

It was an unlikely way for a six-game winning streak to end. The Idaho Stampede was on its home floor, playing the fifth-place team from the D-League’s Eastern Division. But the Stamps were victims of a 37-point outburst by Austin’s B.J. Elder in a 102-96 loss to the Toros. Idaho’s lead over Colorado in the Western Division thus drops to a game and a half. It was Boise State Night at Qwest Arena, but BSU’s representative on the Stampede roster was nowhere to be seen. The Stampede says Jermaine Blackburn has left the team for personal reasons. In 36 games this season, Blackburn has averaged 7½ points, three rebounds and two assists.

From college to the pros, back to college, back to the pros, and now back to college? Well, no. Such is the life of former Idaho Stampede coach Larry Krystkowiak, who until midday yesterday was an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks. And up until that moment, he seemed poised to be the next head man at the University of Utah. But the Bucks fired coach Terry Stotts and elevated Krystkowiak to the top position. And the theory is that Milwaukee axed Stotts to keep Krystko from going to the Utes. What a ride for a guy who three years ago was leading the Stampede to what was then its best season. Krystkowiak then headed for his alma mater, Montana, and led the Grizzlies to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances highlighted by an upset of Nevada last year in the first round.

The Idaho Steelheads now need just one point to clinch a spot in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight year after winning in Stockton last night, 4-3. The Steelheads kept the Thunder at arm’s length throughout, and it was a good thing. After Idaho built a 4-1 lead, Stockton rallied with two third period goals, the last one with 38 seconds left after its goalie had been pulled. Keys for the Steelies: Tuomas Mikkonen tallied twice, helping pick up the scoring slack for AHL-bound Lance Galbraith, and B.J. Crombeen had a goal and an assist in his first game with the team after being reassigned by the Dallas Stars organization earlier in the day. The Steelheads and Thunder collide again tomorrow night.

The new national rankings are out in men’s tennis, and Boise State stayed at no. 27 despite wins over Pacific, Idaho and New Mexico. The Broncos’ only losses have been to to no. 2 Virginia, no.4 USC, no. 10 Mississippi, and no. 12 Texas, but it’s clear that BSU’s going to have to beat ranked teams to get back in the Top 25. And coach Greg Patton’s sights are set higher as the Broncos open play today in the prestigious Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery, AL. “To put it bluntly, it is our shot to getting back into the top 16 and to get a chance to host an NCAA site for the team championships in May,” says the General.

This Day In Sports…March 15, 2001:

Perhaps Boise’s finest sports day ever, as the Pavilion hosts the closest first round bracket in the history of the NCAA Tournament. First, Georgia State upset Wisconsin by one…then Maryland held off George Mason by three…then Georgetown beat Arkansas by two at the buzzer. But the last game was the best—Hampton becoming only the fourth number 15 seed to ever upset a number two, bringing the house down with a 59-58 upset of Iowa State and former Idaho coach Larry Eustachy.

(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 1350 KTIK/The Ticket. He also handles color commentary on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football.)

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